Farmers may have to adapt to stay in business

As the world’s marketplace changes to accommodate growing economic demands in places like China and India, local farmers may need to run an adaptive operation to stay in business.

More than 44,000 farmers statewide are using the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau as a tool to ensure that state legislators hear their concerns.

“This is the first time in our lives that we are competing with the rest of the world for food,” said Larry Cogan, operator of Friedens - based Hilltop Growers. “The farm bureau is very valuable to us. It is our way of uniting to tell our story.”

And if a changing marketplace is part of the tale for local farmers, the high cost of fuel is the leading villain.

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“Energy is the number one issue,” Cogan said. “In the greenhouse business it has a tremendous effect on us.”

That’s why Cogan said more than 800 Somerset County people are members of the bureau.

According to bureau media relations director Mark O’Neill, numbers may be the farmers’ best argument.

“When we lobby lawmakers here in Harrisburg or in (Washington,) D.C., they look at the number of people we bring,” he said. “It is real people with real issues.”

O’Neill admits there is not much the bureau can do about high oil prices that can gouge deep into a farmer’s profit margin.

“Diesel fuel has skyrocketed and natural gas and fertilizer costs are way up,” he said. “That cuts right off of their bottom line.”

But continued lobbying on how state officials spend portions of the $70 million agriculture budget can help.

In a prepared statement, bureau officials cited as recent successes the enactment of tax credits, wildlife practices to reduce crop damage and a new Farm Bill that includes more benefits to advance state agriculture.

State Rep. Bob Bastian said the bureau’s help getting the agriculture, communities and rural environment legislation of 2005 passed was one of its biggest contributions during his time in office.

The legislation is designed to lessen the extent by which municipal code can dictate farm practices. Bastian cited late night work in the fields and manure on the roads as examples. While some people may not like certain farming techniques, Bastian said tight schedules leave farmers with little choice on when to work.

“Farmers are controlled by the elements of weather,” Bastian said. “They have a narrow window to do their work.”

As for operating in a worldwide economy, Bastian said he thinks the state’s farmers will be able to adjust.

“Our farmers can deal with the world economy,” he said. “They are going to have to.”

And as long as there are a group of farmers involved with the bureau, O’Neill said, they will have its support in Harrisburg.

“We will continue to lobby on behalf of Pennsylvania’s farmers,” he said.